- Senate urges Buhari to declare national security emergency, summons IG
Deji Elumoye, Omololu Ogunmade, Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Senate wednesday rose from a six-hour debate on the spike in insecurity in Nigeria with a call on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a national security emergency in the country.
The worrisome security situation in the country also engaged the attention of the House of Representatives, which at plenary wednesday unanimously demanded the resignation of service chiefs for suboptimal performance.
The House requested the president to sack them if they fail to heed the call to resign.
The lawmaker also promised to enact laws to give legal support to the South-west security initiative, Amotekun, and similar outfits that may be set up by states.
The Senate, which debated the motion titled: “Nigerian Security Challenges: Urgent Need to Restructure, Review and Re-organise the Current Security Architecture,” sponsored by the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, and 105 others from 11.20a.m. to 4.25p.m, also set up a 17-man ad-hoc committee to interface with all the security agencies on the issue and report back in two weeks.
It also summoned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, to appear before it at plenary on Wednesday next week to discuss the modus operandi of the introduction of community policing in the country.
The President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, in his remarks after the debate, enjoined his colleagues to pray so that the executive could implement the resolutions since it is not compulsory for the presidency to heed the advice.
“And let me say this; we should prepare our minds that not all what we have resolved on would be implemented; we pray that whatever we resolve that will bring solution, the executive may have their own solution on the way forward. So, there would be need for us to join and marry the two efforts to ensure that the lives and property of Nigerians are protected,” he added.
According to him, “The security of the people is the issue that concerns almost every Nigerian and I think we can do better than just discussing but find solutions to issues at stake. This is not something we can do alone; we must work with the executive to achieve these.
“The president himself has been working hard with security agencies to ensure that we protect the lives and property of our people but we have come to a point where the legislators will also intervene or we give the necessary legislation and support to the executive arm of government.
“So, what we have done is the first thing, I think the most difficult step is the next step and that is, we have passed resolution now, the list of the ad hoc committee members. They will be charged to work assiduously to ensure that they finish their work in two weeks but that is the second step. The third step will be the implementation of whatever we are able to adopt from the ad-hoc committee report; in that case we have to work much more closely (with the executive) to ensure the implementation on those things we resolved on.”
Earlier, some senators in their presentations had canvassed for the sack of all security chiefs who they claimed are now bereft of ideas to solve the nation’s mounting security challenges.
They include Senators Binus Yaroe, Betty Apiafi, Matthew Urhoghide, Abba Moro, Opeyemi Bamidele, Emmanuel Bwacha, Adeola Olamilekan, Elisha Abbo and Rochas Okorocha.
Senator Sani Musa said the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Etuk Ibas-Ette; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, who were all appointed in July, 2015, had overstayed their welcome and should be removed forthwith by Buhari.
Other senators like Ibikunle Amosun, Ibrahim Shekarau, Olubunmi Adetunbi, Sandy Onov, Oluremi Tinubu, Tolu Odebiyi and Smart Adeyemi canvassed for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to give room for the creation of state police as the current central police system has been overwhelmed by the nation’s security challenges.
Those who opposed the establishment of state police in their submissions include Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Senators Gabriel Suswan, Danjuma Goje, Adamu Aliero and Abubakar Yusuf, citing likely abuses by governors.
PDP Caucus Seeks Buhari’s Resignation
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus in the Senate, however, canvassed for the resignation of Buhari for failing to solve the security problems.
Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who spoke the minds of the 44 PDP senators during the debate, said the president should resign forthwith for his inability to resolve the security problems.
He said: “Nigerians did not elect the IG; we did not elect the Chief of Staff; we did not elect the joint service chiefs; we did not elect the National Security Adviser. We elected the government of APC in 2015 and re-elected them in 2019. The reason why we re-elected them was that they continued to tell us that they had a key to security.
“When you want to deal with a matter, you go with the head; so we will go with the government and ask this government to resign because they can no longer do anything.
“Yes Nigerians voted a government into power and that government even said, if we don’t perform, stone us. We are going with the stones to stone them now because they are no longer performing.
“When I was coming this morning, I saw the newspaper headline of THISDAY with Mr. President and Commander- in-Chief expressing shock at the level of violent crimes in the country. In other words, Mr. President was expressing surprise. But in accordance with our Rule 53(13) I will not go into that but I will only say, Mr. President, in pidgin English, this surprise surprises me.”
Abaribe added that if not that the Senate president had urged them not to be partisan in their contributions, he would have called out presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, who while replying to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leaders’ criticism following Boko Haram killing of a priest, had accused CAN of acting like a political party.
“Now that we are talking about it here, let me hear him say that all of us are acting like a political party when somebody is complaining about these incessant deaths in this country.
“Because we have to get to the root of this matter, I can only say one thing: those who live on propaganda will die by propaganda. It is a matter of life and death. We were told that Boko Haram has been defeated, Nigeria is now safer. Everything was been done to make sure that the hard work that was supposed to be done in securing Nigeria was not done because certain people did not do their work and preferred to cover the eyes of Nigerians with propaganda,” he stated.
At the end of the debate, the Senate, in its resolution, while urging the presidency to declare a national security emergency, also set up a 17-man ad-hoc committee headed by the Senate Leader to engage the security agencies and report back to the Senate within two weeks.
Members of the committee include Senators Abaribe, Sabi Abdullahi, Ali Ndume, Aliyu Wammako, Haliru Jika, Kashim Shettima, Bala Ibn Na’Allah and George Sekibo.
Others are Ibrahim Gobir, Suleiman Kwari, Geisham Bassey, Stella Odua, Ibikunle Amosun, Abba Moro, Yusuf Abubakar and Kabiru Gaya.
Presidency: Abaribe’s Call for Buhari’s Resignation Unjustifiable
But the presidency last night attacked Abaribe, over his call for Buhari’s resignation, describing it as a stray comment.
A statement by presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, which described Abaribe as an arm chair critic, said if Buhari had to resign, then Abaribe and millions of other Nigerians would have to also resign.
He accused the fiery senator of lacking the moral right to call for Buhari’s resignation because he aided the escape of the leader of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
According to the statement, Abaribe ought to have replaced Kanu in Correctional Facility for failing to produce Kanu for whom he stood as surety, arguing that Buhari is fixing the country and striving to keep the country safe.
The statement read: “Just because some characters think that President Buhari should resign, then they expect him to quit. That call does not represent the opinion of the country.
“This is the opinion of an arm chair critic, known for making stray comments. If a leader like President Buhari needs to resign, there are millions of other Nigerians who need to resign, including Senator Abaribe who unlocked the door to enable the escape of traitorous and treasonable suspects.
“He signed the bond for the court to release Nnamdi Kanu on bail, from which moment the suspect disappeared into the thin air. Senator Abaribe has failed repeated deadlines to return Kanu to the court for trial, yet he has the effrontery with which to accuse someone of failing to the bidding of the law.
“This is a man who should have replaced the suspects he failed to produce in the correctional facility. Abaribe’s party raped the nation and left it collapsing in 2015 and President Buhari is fixing things up all the years he is in office.
“President Buhari is working hard to keep Nigeria and Nigerians out of the harm terrorists have unleashed in the entire Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa with the support of Nigerians and our foreign friends, he is going to finish off these terrorists. He alone can do it.”
House Demands Service Chiefs’ Resignation
At the House of Representatives, there was a unanimous resolution, asking the service chiefs to resign or be sacked by Buhari.
Earlier, while debating a motion on the need to curb the incessant attacks by the Boko Haram insurgents moved by the Chief Whip, Hon. Mohammed Monguno, many of the lawmakers had asked the service chiefs to relocate to Maiduguri to tackle the insurgency.
Monguno, in his motion, told his colleagues that the Boko Haram insurgents who were relegated to the background are now unleashing terror on Borno and Yobe states.
He said the insurgents had forced the military to close traffic on the Damaturu-Maiduguri Road for some days, adding that the Damaturu-Maiduguri road is the only access from Maiduguri to other parts of Nigeria.
According to him, the closure of the road is an indication that the Boko Haram insurgents have seized the road and the communities on that axis.
After the long debate on the motion, the lawmaker representing Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza federal Constituency of Borno State, Hon. Ahmadu Jaha, added the resignation and sacking of the service chiefs in the additional prayers he made on the motion, which the House adopted.
The Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, had decried the spate of insecurity in the country, saying neither the security institutions nor political leaders could afford to hold on too tightly to a status quo whose frustrating limitations are painfully evident.
The speaker while delivering his speech at the resumption of the 2020 legislative session, said since the House last convened, there had been developments in the public space that concern them, especially with the uptick in crime across the country.
Gbajabiamila said overcoming the country’s overwhelming national security challenges required that everyone should be willing to accept new approaches and consider novel ideas.
“Our cup of endurance has run over and we are no longer willing to labour under these dark clouds of random violence inflicted upon our people by faceless cowards whose ends we do not understand, and whose means we do not know,” he added.
Gbajabiamila promised that the House would support Amotekun and similar security outfits with legislation, saying the establishment of Amotekun has met with commentary from across the country, both for and against.
He added that lost in these interactions is the fact that Amotekun and other such state or zonal interventions are a desperate response to the vile manifestations of insecurity in the country.
